Afterglow
by Icy Peach
Summary: Absolute fluffy drivel.


Summary: V. short vignette after the ending of FF7. It meets my happy ending quota for the day. Very, very loosely based on Jon Bon Jovi's "Thank You For Loving Me".  
  
  
  
Afterglow  
  
[ it's hard for me to say the things  
i want to say sometimes ]   
  
  
They watched the fireworks from the airship.  
Tifa wasn't even sure where the people of Kalm found fireworks at the edge of Armeggedon, but she wasn't about to complain. They were beautiful.  
Almost as beautiful as he was, standing next to her, so close the their uppers arms would graze one another when she moved just so. The tiny bit of contact was just enough to keep her senses just on this side of overstimulation.  
When she felt brave enough, she would steal a look at his face, at his eyes, which had the double edged look of being very close to her, but still so far away.  
With _her_. Tifa felt the same bittersweet pang as always when she thought of Aeris. Gone, but still between her and Cloud.   
Not that her presence or absence really matters, Tifa thought, looking down at the rail she was leaning on. Not like I have the guts to tell Cloud.   
Said obejct of her affections bumped her lightly. "Hey, you're off in space again."  
"Oh." She smiled awkwardly. "Just thinkin'."  
"You do that a lot," he said.  
Trying to turn the conversation around, she bumped him back with her hip. "Someone's got to do the thinking around here."  
"Shut up." But he was smiling, and it hit her hard that she hadn't ever seen him this at peace. He'd wrestled the demons, and he'd won.  
Time for her own demons, then?  
She tapped the railing nervously. "What are _you_ thinking about?"  
"Her." Like she hadn't seen that coming.  
"Miss her?"   
He smiled up at the sky, illuminated in bursts by fireworks. "Yeah. But I'll see her again someday."  
She groaned inwardly. "What, Strife, is this another quest for the heroes of this world?"  
"Nah. More like...." He paused, searching for the words. "When I die. Hopefully not for a long time, though." The look he turned on her made her knees tremble and her fingers tingle.  
Does he know, she wondered, and this is some kind of torture, or is he that oblivious?  
She was quiet for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip, before she put voice to her thoughts. "I thought you loved her."  
"I did." Tifa felt as if she might throw up over the rail. "But I had to let go of her. I don't know if it would have worked out anyway," he grinned, "what with her wanting to know the real me. She'd have run away screaming or something."  
Even with the light tone to his joke, she frowned. "That's not true. If she'd gotten to know the real you, she'd have never left." She almost winced as she realized how fiercely her words had come out. Oops.  
Cloud was a bit surprised, too. "I wonder."  
She couldn't help stealing a worried look at him, and flushed to the tips of her toes when she caught sight of his inquisitive gaze. He had to know. There was no _way_ he couldn't have figured it out. She loved him, and it was written all over her face most of the time. Tifa sighed and scuffed her boot on the deck. "Well, she wouldn't have."  
His eyes on her were almost too much. Dammit, she thought, why doesn't he say anything?  
"You never did. Leave, that is. They, um, told me that when I was sick, with the Mako, that you didn't leave." She could tell he was watching for her reaction, and she was trying desperately not to give one.  
"I couldn't," she said huskily. Oh, no, she could almost feel tears.  
"I'm glad," he said.  
She smiled in spite of herself at that.   
"Tifa...is something wrong?" She sealed her mouth shut, and shook her head, eyes focused on the railing.  
"You can tell me," he said hopefully. Again, she shook her head.  
He was starting to get a pleading note in his voice. "Tell me."  
She sighed. "Can't."  
"Please. Tell me, I need to know." His eyes weighed heavily upon her small frame, and she could feel the pressure on her chest.  
"Can't," she choked.  
He stood up, grabbing her by shoulders as he pulled her to face him. She snapped her eyes up to his, and felt as if she'd been slapped by the sudden intensity in his stare. "I have to hear it, Tifa, please tell me, I need to hear it from you...." He sounded near tears himself, though she couldn't be sure.  
She closed her eyes. It was easier this way. "You know." She laughed joylessly. "You know I love you."  
And to her amazement, though his grip on her shoulders lightened, she felt his lips, soft as she'd always imagined them, just grazing her forehead, and then the tip of her nose, and then her lower lip.  
"Thank you," he said.  
  
  
AN-  
Very, very short.   
Ah, well. I'm working on some longer pieces. Please read and review, it honestly makes me sit down and write more. 


End file.
